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Friday, May 2, 2014

Fr. Lange Reflects on the Hispanic Community

News Brief by Romple EmwaluEditor's Note: This is the second of three news briefs on presentations from this course this semester.On March, 17, 2014, the Cultural Diversity in the Global Society class, taught by Ms. Kathy Akiyama, invited Fr. Theodore Lange, a Formation Director and Adjunct Professor of Religious and Systematic Theology, to give a talk on his experience with the Hispanic community in the Archdiocese of Portland. Fr. Lange finds the Hispanic community interesting, challenging and a good group to work with. He sees that different Hispanic communities, even those that are close to one another, have a different understanding of the liturgy compared to their sister communities. One of the examples he used is a Hispanic community in Molalla, a town about fifteen minutes north of Mount Angel Seminary. They do not quite understand the Hispanic community living in the Mount Angel area. “This is one of the challenges the priests today have to face,” said Fr. Lange. He emphasized that we have to remember that America was meant to be a melting pot; everyone is free to bring their culture, sharing it with one another. He also mentioned that one of the important elements for a priest to remember is that he is there to serve his people. “We do not change people to the way we think, but we learn to accept them and to understand them well,” said Fr. Lange.

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